reading and writing

writing

After reading a text, write a onesentence summary of the passage

Write a 200300 word essay on a given

topic

Summarize
written text

Write essay

listening and
speaking

listening and
speaking

speaking

After listening to a question, answer with

a single word or a few words

After listening to or watching a lecture,

re-tell the lecture in your own words

An image appears on screen. Describe

the image in detail

listening and
speaking

Answer short
question

Re-tell
lecture

Describe
image

After listening to a recording of a

sentence, repeat the sentence

reading and speaking

A text appears on screen. Read the text

aloud

Read aloud

Repeat
sentence

Skills assessed

Task

Item

2-3 sentences

text up to 300 words

3-9 seconds

up to 90 seconds

N/A

3-9 seconds

text up to 60 words

Prompt length

PTE Academic: Speaking and Writing Item Overview

20 minutes

10 minutes

10 seconds

40 seconds

40 seconds

15 seconds

varies by item,
depending on the
length of text

Time to answer

Task
After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice question on the
content or tone of the text by selecting one response

After reading a text, answer a multiple-choice question on the

content or tone of the text by selecting more than one response

Several text boxes appear on screen in a random order. Put the

text boxes in the correct order

A text appears on screen with several gaps. Drag words from the
box below to fill the gaps

A text appears on screen with several gaps. Fill in each gap from a
drop-down list of response options

Item

Multiple-choice,
choose single
answer

Multiple-choice,
choose multiple
answers

Re-order
paragraphs

Reading: Fill in the

blanks

Reading and
Writing: Fill in the
blanks

PTE Academic: Reading Item Overview

reading and writing

reading

reading

reading

reading

Skills assessed

text up to 300
words

text up to 80
words

text up to 150
words

text up to 300
words

text up to 110
words

Prompt length

listening

listening and writing

listening

listening and
reading

After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on

the content or tone of the recording by selecting more than one
response
A transcript of a recording appears on screen with several gaps.
After listening to the recording, type the missing word in each gap
After listening to a recording, select the paragraph that best
summarizes the recording
After listening to a recording, answer a multiple-choice question on
the content or tone of the recording by selecting one response
After listening to a recording, select the missing word that
completes the recording from a list of options
The transcript of a recording appears on screen. While listening to
the recording, identify the words in the transcript that differ from
what is said
After listening to a recording of a sentence, type the sentence

Multiple choice,
choose multiple
answers

Fill in the blanks

Highlight correct
summary

Multiple choice,
choose single
answer

Select missing
word

Highlight
incorrect words

Write from
dictation

listening and writing

listening

listening and
reading

listening and writing

After listening to a recording, write a 50-70 word summary

Summarize
spoken text

Skills assessed

Task

Item

PTE Academic: Listening Item Overview

3-5 seconds

15-50 seconds

20-70 seconds

30-60 seconds

30-90 seconds

30-60 seconds

40-90 seconds

60-90 seconds

Prompt length

You are reminded of the non-disclosure

agreement you signed as part of the
terms and conditions of the test.

NDA Reminder

There is an untimed Test Introduction

at the start of the test.

PTE Academic: Test

Introduction

You receive further information about what to

expect during the test in the Test Introduction.

Test Information

You have an opportunity to check you have the

correct keyboard and that the headset and
microphone are working.

Equipment Check